3 Best Sights in Augsburg, The Romantic Road

Augsburg's imposing cathedral contains the oldest cycle of stained glass in central Europe and important paintings by local resident Hans Holbein the Elder, which adorn the altar. The celebrated stained-glass windows from the 11th century are on the south side of the nave and depict the prophets Jonah, Daniel, Hosea, Moses, and David. Originally built in the 9th century, the cathedral stands out because of its square Gothic towers, products of a 14th-century update. A 10th-century Romanesque crypt also remains from the cathedral's early years. Those celebrated stained-glass windows, from the 11th century, are on the south side of the nave and depict prophets Jonah, Daniel, Hosea, Moses, and David.

A short walk from the cathedral takes you to the quiet courtyards and small raised garden of the former episcopal residence, a series of 18th-century baroque and rococo buildings that now serve as the Swabian regional government offices. To the back of the cathedral at Kornhausg. 3–5 is the Diocese Museum of St. Afra, where the cathedral's treasures are on display.

This plastered brick bell tower has foundations dating to AD 989, when it was constructed as a watchtower, and is now part of the Church of St. Peter of Perlach, built in the 1600s. Climb the 258 stairs to the top of the 230-foot tower for gorgeous views of Augsburg and the countryside. Just be sure to time it to avoid being beneath the bells when they chime.

Standing at the highest point of the city, this Catholic basilica with an attached Protestant chapel symbolizes the Peace of Augsburg, the treaty that ended the religious struggle between the two groups. On the site of a Roman cemetery where St. Afra was martyred in AD 304, the original structure was built in the late-Gothic style in 1467. St. Afra is buried in the crypt, near the tomb of St. Ulrich, a 10th-century bishop who helped stop a Hungarian army at the gates of Augsburg in the Battle of the Lech River. The remains of a third patron of the church, St. Simpert, are preserved in an elaborate side chapel. From the steps of the magnificent altar, look back along the high nave to the finely carved, wrought-iron-and-wood baroque railing that borders the entrance. As you leave, look into the separate but adjacent church of St. Ulrich, the baroque preaching hall that was added for the Protestant community in 1710, after the Reformation.